1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly adapted for mounting in a vehicle, the assembly thereafter being operable for receiving, supporting and manipulating the position of a litter bearing a patient within the vehicle with minimal effort.
2. Prior Art
The medical transport systems currently used to load, handle, and unload patients in military and civilian ambulances involve considerable amounts of manual labor and time. Both the physical exertion of the medical attendants as well as the delay in treatment incurred while loading NATO style litters into a transport vehicle can have a negative affect on the patient. This is particularly significant in the case of ambulances that simultaneously transport several patients, where the physical effort and time associated with loading an occupied stretcher into the vehicle are multiplied by the number of patients to be transported.
While performing certain emergency medical procedures, it is imperative that a caregiver be relaxed, focused, and have sufficient control over his/her muscles to precisely maneuver a variety of instruments. This is especially true for medical attendants aboard moving vehicles who are faced with the added challenge of compensating for the vibrations and unpredictable motions imparted to the caregiver through the vehicle's chassis.
A common lifesaving procedure used to establish an airway for trauma patients who cannot breathe on their own is an endotracheal intubation. As oxygenation of heart and brain tissues is critical to preservation of life, this procedure is often performed at the site of injury or while in an ambulance. Intubation requires a medical attendant to use a laryngoscope to visually and physically guide an endotracheal tube down a patient's throat and into the upper trachea. If the attendant loses mental concentration, or lacks manual dexterity, the tube can be incorrectly placed and fail to supply the patient's lungs with oxygen. Additional procedures such as the detection of a patient's pulse, administration of intravenous fluids, and immobilization of the cervical spine require high degrees of mental and physical coordination. The physical effort associated with the use of currently available stretcher loading systems can cause medical attendants to experience unnecessarily elevated heart rates and muscle fatigue, thereby negatively affecting concentration and fine motor skills. These unwanted mental and physical side effects that result from loading patients into a vehicle can reduce an attendant's ability to perform the necessary lifesaving procedures.
In general, any reduction in the elapsed time between the moment a person sustains a serious injury and his initial receipt of medical care, will improve his chance of survival. Patients suffering from injuries such as, but not limited to, massive hemorrhage, open skull fracture, and tension pneumothorax, must often receive surgical care within an hour of being injured. Accordingly, it is critical that each step of the evacuation and transportation processes be carried out as quickly as possible. As the actions of loading and unloading patients from an ambulance are integral to the emergency medical evacuation process, it is important that they too be conducted rapidly. In the unique case of a military ambulance on an active battlefield, the time required to load patients determines how long medical attendants are exposed as targets to the enemy. In such situations the attendants must be able to load injured patients very rapidly in order to reduce their exposure to enemy fire.
Various litter support assemblies adapted for installation in an ambulance are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,432 discloses an adjustable litter support assembly that includes stanchions with fittings on each stanchion to engage conventional hold-down fixtures on the floor of an aircraft. The stanchions are further supported by interconnectable connecting links carried near the top of each stanchion. Connecting straps also extend from near the top of each stanchion to a floor fitting near the bottom of the other stanchion of each pair. Litter support arms are adjustably connected to each stanchion and carry locking straps for detachably holding a litter thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,306 discloses a selectively tiltable patient loading system and transport device adapted for use in aircraft. The device generally comprises a base assembly interconnected to the floor of an aircraft, a platform assembly capable of receiving and supporting a litter with a patient thereon, and an interconnecting assembly interposed between the base assembly and platform assembly for supportably interconnecting the platform assembly to the base assembly and for selectively tilting the platform assembly relative to the base assembly.
Other patents generally addressing assemblies for patient transport include US patents:
2,473,364Litter Installation for Vehicles2,480,322Aircraft Ambulance2,370,402Ambulances and Their Equipment3,358,300Mounting and Supporting Apparatus for Litters3,831,996Stretcher Support Arrangement Especially for Ambulances4,378,128Ambulance5,372,339Multi-Tiered Litter Rack System5,383,629Emergency Medical System5,490,703Patient Transport System5,785,277Patient Loading and Transport Device for Aircraft5,779,296Patient Transport System6,332,638Apparatus for Loading Stretchers onto Ambulances7,047,578Modular Patient Support System
In view of the foregoing discussion it is apparent that it would be beneficial to the victims of domestic terrorist attacks, wartime battles, natural disasters, etc., to provide a vehicle-mounted, patient loading/unloading system that allowed for stretchers to be loaded and unloaded more quickly and with greater ease than what is possible using current systems. A more time-efficient system, that requires less physical effort to operate, is especially advantageous in situations where multiple patients are transported aboard a single ambulance.